* Father of India’s Radio Astronomy, Prof Govind Swarup passed away.

* He was born on March 23rd, 1929 in Thakurdwara, United Provinces, British India ( Now in Uttar Pradesh).

* He was the founding director of National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

* He is well known for his many important research contributions in several areas of astronomy and astrophysics.

* He served as president of the Astronomical Society of India during 1975-77.

* A strong group in radio astrophysics was formed under his leadership at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which is comparable to the best in the world.

* He has received Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB)(1972); TWAS Prize in Physics (1988); H. K. Firodia Award (2001)and the Grote Reber Medal (2007) among others

* Bank of India (BoI) launched “Signature Visa Debit Card” for the affluent/high net worth individuals maintaining an average quarterly balance of ₹10 lakhs and above.

* This international contactless debit card will be available in metal and plastic variants.

* This card will have a spending limit of up to ₹5 lakhs on POS & e-commerce and ₹1 lakh on ATM

* International Day to Protect Education from Attack is observed globally on 9th September. In proclaiming the International Day to Protect Education from Attack to be celebrated for the first time in 2020.

* The Day draws attention to the plight of more than 75 million 3-to-18-year-olds living in 35 crisis-affected countries and to their urgent need of educational support.

* It expresses concern over the effects of continued violence on these children and their ability to access education, whose consequences require special attention beyond the needs of learners whose establishments were temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* The day was established by a unanimous decision of the UN General Assembly, calling on UNESCO and UNICEF to raise awareness of the plight of millions of children living in countries affected by conflict.

* The resolution proclaiming the Day was presented by the State of Qatar and co-sponsored by 62 countries.

* Veteran producer-director, Johnny Bakshi passed away. He mostly worked as a producer, backing films such as Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain, (1974), Raavan, (1984) and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee (1993).

* He has also directed two films Daku Aur Police (1992) and Khudai (1994).

* Oscar-winning Czech film director, Jiri Menzel passed away. He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on 23 February 1938.

* His 1st feature film, ‘Closely Watched Trains’ won an Academy Award (Oscars) for Best Foreign Language film in 1968.

* Menzel won the Czech Lion for lifetime artistic contribution and was honoured by the Karlovy Vary festival.

* He is a recipient of the Medal of Merit, the French Order of Arts and Literature and a score of other international awards.

* He was awarded an IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2013.

* World Bank and the government of Himachal Pradesh signed $82 million loan for the implementation of Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project.

* The project will strengthen the transport and road safety institutions of Himachal Pradesh.

* It aims at improving the condition, safety, resilience, and engineering standards of state road network.

* Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar has launched Educational WhatsApp Chatbot “Apka Mitra” & Online Admission Platform for UnderGraduate (UG) courses in government-aided and self-financed colleges for the new academic session 2020-21.

* ‘Apka Mitra’ is the first-of-its-kind educational WhatsApp Chatbot to resolve admission related queries of the students.

* Students can send a message on Whatsapp chatbot number 7419444449 to get information regarding admission & scholarship.

* Using the new platform, the students will be able to complete the entire admission process in the convenience of home.

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Patrika Gate in Jaipur through video conference.

* The Iconic Gate is built by the Patrika Group of Newspapers on the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg in the Pink City.

* Prime Minister Modi also released two books written by the Group Chairman on the occasion, authored by Gulab Kothari, Editor in Chief of Rajasthan Patrika Group and Chairman of Patrika Group of Newspaper.

* The Patrika Gate is a memorial that reflects the cultural heritage and architectural style of Rajasthan.

* This memorial is an attempt to integrate the art, craft and cultural heritage of Rajasthan in one structure.

* Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched YSR Sampoorna Poshana scheme.

* The scheme aims at providing food to lactating mothers and pregnant women so as to fulfil their nutritional requirements.

* The scheme will bring down malnutrition among the vulnerable section of state.

* It is going to benefit 30.16 lakh children and lactating mothers.

* It focuses on malnutrition and anaemia in pregnant and lactating mothers.

* It will provide supplementary nutrition in all the Anganwadi centres.

* In accordance with the report on “Household Social Consumption: Education in India as part of 75th round of National Sample Survey(NSS) – from July 2017 to June 2018″ conducted by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Andhra Pradesh (AP) is the worst performer at 66.4% followed by Rajasthan at 69.7%, Bihar (70.9%), Telangana (72.8%), Uttar Pradesh (73%) and Madhya Pradesh (73.7%).

* As per the report Kerala again emerged as the most literate state in the country with 96.2% literacy followed by Delhi (88.7%), Uttarakhand ( 87.6%), Himachal Pradesh (86.6%) and Assam (85.9%).

* The overall literacy rate in India is pegged at 77.7% where rural areas have 73.5% literacy rate and urban areas has 87.7%.